Sealing means



April 21, 1953 H. HoRNscHucH 2,635,902

SEALING MEANS Filed 001;. 16, y1948 .nnnngnmr INVENTOR BANNS H ORNSGHUOHHls ATTORNEY;

Patented Apr. 21, l1953 SEALING MEANS Hanns Hornschuch, Easton, Pa.,

assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application October 16, 1948, Serial No. 54,903

This invention relates to a sealing means, and more particularly to aseal for rotating shafts.

As is well kno-wn to those familiar with the art, one disadvantagegenerally associated with seals of this type is that any leakage offluid along the sealing material to the exterior of the seal eventuallyfinds its way to the shaft and is thrown on the surrounding machinery.And, furthenin instances where a pressure differential exists across theseal, and in other obvious examples, hot iiuid being pumped escapesalong the seal and flashes into vapor in the atmosphere and thencondenses on surrounding machinery.' This is, of course, a veryundesirable condition, and it is accordingly one object of the inventionto collect any leakage of fluid or vapor along the exterior of thepacking or sealing material ofthe seal and to conduct such leakage to aremote point for disposal.

Another object of the invention is to trap and collect any leakage offluid or vapor along the inner periphery of the packing, or along theshaft, and

A further object ci my invention is to condense such leakage vapors.

Other objects will become apparent hereinafter.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and in which similarreference characters refer to similar parts,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, of a sealingmeans constructed in accordance with the practice of the inventionadapted to the shaft of a motor driven pump or a blower, a portion ofwhich is shown,

Figure 2 is a transverse View, partly in section, taken through Figure 1along the line 2-2 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 3 is a view, partly in section, through the seal along the line 33 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 4 is a View in transverse section taken through Fig. l along theline 4-4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, I designates, in general, a seal constructedin accordance with the practice of the invention mounted in an openingI3 in the casing I4 of a pump or blower or similar machine of anysuitable design and encircling a shaft Il of a motor I2 for driving thepump.

One purpose of the seal is, of course, to minimize the leakage of fluidor vapor from within the casing, and a further purpose is to collect anyleakage along the shaft yand the inner or outer periphery of the sealingmaterial of the seal and 1 Claim. (Cl. 286-8) to condense such vapor.Accordingly, the seal Ill is supplied with a condensing fluid, such aswater, through a conduit I8 from a suitable source (not shown) and thepump frame I5 has a cup portion integral with the `casing I4 and securedto the motor I2 by bolts i6 or sump Il disposed directly below the sealIl] to collect condensing and leakage fluids from the seal.

More speciiically, the seal IIl, in its preferred form, includes ahousing I9 mounted in the open-- ingY I3 and secured to the Vcasing I4by means of bolts 2i! which pass through a iiange 2l on the housing i9.A bore 22 in the housing Igloosely encircles and is concentric with theshaft I l and is adapted to contain suitable packing material' 25. Acounterbore 23 in housing IS adjacent bore 22 serves as a guide for agland 24 adapted to compress the packing 25. Y

A conventional shaft sleeve 26 is interposed between the sealingmaterial `25 and the shaft I I to assure a better sealing relationbetween the sealing material and the materials against which it bearsand to avoid wear on the shaft. A nut 21 threaded on the shaft II bearsagainst the outer end of the sleeve 26 to hold the sleeve in frictionalengagement with the shaft II. An annular groove 2B provided in the outerperiphery of the inner end portion of the gland 24 cooperates with thesurfaces bounding the enlarged bore 23 to form a chamber 2a that servesto collect any leakage of fluid or vapor past the packing material 25.The chamber 29 communicates with the conduit I8 through a passage 32 inthe housing I9 and, in this manner, a fluid, such as water, is availableto condense the previously mentioned vapor in order to prevent itsescape from the seal to contaminate the air or condense on or in themotor I2.

A chamber 3D is formed within the gland 24 by a groove 3l in the innerperiphery of the gland intermediate its ends. Ihe leak chamber 30, sopositioned. serves to trap and collect any leakage of lluid or vaporfrom the interior of the casing I4 along the outer periphery of thesleeve 26 or inner surface of the sealing material 25. Such vapors are,as in the chamber 29, condensed by the fluid delivered to the sealthrough the conduit I8 and to this end, openings 33 are provided in thegland 24 to communicate the chamber 30 with the chamber 2S. Thecondensing fluid and the condensate yare then drained from chamber 30through a passage 34 in the lower portion of the gland 24 into the sumpIl and thence to a point remote from the pump through a conduit 35threaded in the ybottom of the pump frame I 5.

With this gland construction, it will be noted. that longitudinallydisposed surfaces 4I and 42 are provided on the gland 24 at the oppositeends of the chamber 30, which bear against the sleeve 26, thusprecluding any possibility of cooking the gland 24.

To insure against the possibility of fluid leaking :from the leakchamber 30 along the sleeve 26 and splashing against the motor I2 or anyother associated mechanisms, a Skirt or guard 36 is provided at theouter end of the gland 24 which is in sealing contact with the upper andside portions of the outer periphery of the sleeve 26, thereby dening agroove 43 that partially encircles the sleeve 26 and, at its lowerportion, opens Into the sump I'I-thus, any fluid leaking from thechamber 30 will be conducted into the sump I1.

In the form of the invention shown, the gland 24 is of splitconstruction to facilitate mounting of the gland on the shaft II and is,accordingly,

lheld in its assembled relation by bolts 3l; and lbolts 38 are providedwhich pass through open- Ilngs 39 in the gland and thread in the housingI9 llor imparting longitudinal movement to the gland to control thepressure exerted on the packing 25 by the reduced end portions 40 of thegland.

It is now obvious from the previous description, that a sealing meansconstructed in accordance to the practice of the invention obviates anypossibility of fluid, such as oil, leaking from the pump or othermechanisms to which the seal is adapted, to contaminate the air or toaccelerate the deterioration of the prime moverfor example, oil splashedon the interior of an electric motor would cause rapid deterioration ofthe insulation.

While I have shown and described a specific form of my invention, it isto be understood that various changes and modifications may be made 4without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in theappended claim.

I claim:

A sealing device for a rotating shaft comprising a housing having anopening therein, a rotating shaft in the opening, sealing means betweenthe shaft and the housing, a gland for pressing the sealing means intosealing contact with the shaft and the housing and having an outerperipheral surface co-operating with the opening to form an annularchamber adjacent the outer surface of the sealing means to collect anyleakage of fluid along the outer surface of the sealing means, a groovein the inner periphery of the gland for collecting any leakage of fluidalong the shaft, a conduit for conveying condensing fluid to the annularchamber and the groove, and a second groove in the inner periphery ofthe gland positioned immediately adjacent to and outwardly from the rstmentioned groove for collecting the condensing fluid leaking outwardlyalong the shaft.

HANN S HORNSCHUCH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 216,038 Hewitt June 3, 1879 448,874 Brewer Mar. 24, 1891691,893 Butler et a1 Jan. 28, 1902 775,910 Backstrom Nov. 29, 19041,124,514 Platt Jan. 12, 1915 1,248,397 Pinkney Nov. 27, 1917 1,677,780Jaworowski July 17, 1928 1,795,311 Meyer Mar. 1U, 1931 1,943,578 Bigelowet al Jan. 16, 1934 V2,368,962 Blom Feb. 6, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 527,640 Great Britain of 1940

